Billboard revenue data sought from Karachi’s land-owning bodies

The apex court directed all land-owning bodies including civic agencies and cantonment boards in Karachi on Tuesday to submit details of the revenue they had generated in the last five years through the installation of billboards and hoardings in their respective jurisdictions, reports Jamal Khurshid.

Hearing the matter of illegal advertising signboards in the city, a three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim observed that billboards and hoardings had been put up on footpaths, leaving no space for pedestrians to walk.

The federal and provincial law officers submitted their compliance reports on the removal of billboards. They stated in their reports that all signboards on footpaths and other public properties had been removed by the respective agencies in compliance with the court’s orders.

The court was further informed that federal, provincial and local agencies were generating revenue through billboards.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa asked the federal law officer as to how much revenue the land owing-agencies including cantonment boards were generating and where was it being spent.

The court observed that appropriate orders would be passed over the proposed rules for the installation of billboards.

University land

The apex court stopped the process of Sindh University, Jamshoro leasing out its land to a housing society.

The directives came on an application filed by the university on the land rights award for the installation of electricity poles on the land.

The counsel for the university submitted that its management had not been granted land rights by the National Transmission and Despatch Company for the installation of electric poles on its land.

The NTDC counsel submitted that the company was willing to provide an award for the installation of poles as per the directives of the high court, but not for the entire area where they were installed. He added that he would have no objections if the matter was sent to the commissioner for determining land rights.

The court remanded the matter to the commissioner for determining land rights and directed the university to not lease out its land for the housing project.